Missing Brightside
by Shadowzamy
Summary: Everything will work out. That's what he always used to think. He was an optimistic person after all. No matter what, nothing could break that cheerful personality... but then he saw them. His world shattered in that instant. His fragile heart and unwavering trust broken. He'd always tried looking on the bright side of things, but where was the brightside in that? YohxAnnaxHaoxYoh
1. Spin the Bottle

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

XxX

"Oi, Yoh. Wake up!" Horohoro yelled.

"Sorry Horohoro. Did I miss something?" Yoh asked quickly.

"We were talking about what we were planning to do today. None of us can think of anything that we can all agree on." Ren replied.

"Oh." Yoh said.

"I have an idea! Why not go back to your house and play spin the bottle? Everyone could play." Ryu suggested.

"Um... I'm not sure Anna would agree to that..." Yoh said hesitantly.

"Come on. I'm sure you two could come to some sort of truce for the day. It'll be fun." Horohoro said.

"I'll try..." Yoh replied, his reluctance as obvious as the cloudy sky above them.

"Alright! We'll meet at Ren's house later. See you then." Horohoro said cheerfully, oblivious to his friend's discomfort.

Yoh still had an I'm-not-so-sure-about-this look as his friends all headed elsewhere, ignoring his doubts on the subject. Lyserg gave him a sympathetic smile, but that was all. It was more than likely that the game would get hectic, but there wasn't much of a point in worrying either. Whenever Ryu got it in his head that he wanted to do something that required Anna's approval, he'd always help persuade her with his amazing cooking.

It was more than likely that once he got home Ryu would have created some fantastic dinner to help him get Anna to agree to the game. To be fully honest, he wasn't worried that Anna would refuse... he was worried that she wouldn't. It probably sounded crazy. Hell, maybe it was, but there was a small feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him that this game was a bad idea. Perhaps he was just over thinking it. Like he always said: "Everything will work out."

XxX

Yoh smiled as he, Anna and Tamao were greeted by Horohoro at the door. Judging by his relieved expression, he guessed that the three of them were the last to arrive. His suspicions were confirmed the moment he entered the living room. He was a little surprised at the number of people there though. The X-Laws and the appearance of Hao and his followers were the greatest surprise.

Hao waved at him and Anna as they entered the room, taking no heed of the icy glare Anna sent back at him. Yoh waved back at Hao as Anna went to go sit next to Jun and Pirika. The circle was mostly formed already and the bottle was waiting in the middle. Yoh hurried over to everyone else and took a seat next to Hao. Secretly, he was happier than he let on. Forgetting about the tournament for the day and just playing a game where sides didn't matter was a lot more fun than he thought. It felt more like he was sitting next to his brother than his enemy.

"Well? Who would like to start?" Jun asked cheerfully.

"I will!" Horohoro exclaimed.

Horohoro quickly reached out for the bottle and gave it a good spin. Everyone's eyes were all on the glass bottle as it spun around once, twice, three times, until it eventually stopped on... "Oh, hell no."

"Come on, Anna." Horohoro said as he crawled over to the ice queen. "You agreed to play."

"Fine." Anna snapped.

In one moment, she had grabbed the collar of Horohoro's shirt and pulled him into a kiss, and the next moment Horohoro was sitting at least six feet away from her. Quite a few people were laughing at Horohoro's expression. Yoh thought it was kind of funny too. Horohoro looked completely at a loss for words, but no one knew if it was from being yanked into a kiss with Anna or because she slapped him afterward.

"There. I guess it's my turn now." Anna said as she gave the bottle a spin.

Her blank expression turned into a glare upon watching the bottle come to a halt at the next person. "This is not my lucky day."

"I'd say you're pretty lucky." Hao said gleefully.

Everyone held their breath as Anna hesitantly made her way over to Hao. Once she had gotten close enough that their lips were mere centimeters apart, Hao grabbed the back of her head and closed the gap. Anna's face was a bright red while Hao merely smirked at her. He pulled her closer so that he was holding her in his arms. However, kiss came to an abrupt end when Hao decided to push his luck and press his tongue between her lips.

A loud smack resounded off the walls of the room as Hao was hit by Anna's legendary slap. What surprised most people was the fact that he didn't catch it the first time, like he had before. On the other hand, it looked like Hao had hardly even felt it, seeing as how he was still smirking. Anna quickly walked back over to the other side of the room, still fuming, and took her seat next to Pirika and Jun.

"What a shame, I was hoping to get more into it. Oh well, I guess I'll just do that with the next person." Hao said before spinning the bottle.

Team Hanagumi seemed like the only ones hoping that the bottle on them. Jun also seemed a little interested, but was more focused on where the bottle would land than anything else. The bottle had begun to slow down after ten spins. Jeanne let out an obvious sigh of relief when it passed by her, saying a small payer of thanks before returning to watching where the bottle would land. The bottle slowly made its way past Tamao, then Matilda, slowly going past Hao, until finally pointing at...

"Why me?" Yoh muttered as he glanced warily at his brother.

"Who knows? But I did say that I was going to get more into it with the next person... and that appears to be you." Hao said simply.

Yoh let out a yelp of surprise as he was suddenly tackled to the floor. Not a second later, Hao's lips were connected with his own, muffling any possible protests. Yoh's face had turned a bright red from the embarrassment of the situation. He let out a small squeak as Hao managed to slip his tongue between his lips. Once Hao was done embarrassing Yoh, and making everyone else in the room rather uncomfortable, he pulled back and handed the bottle to Yoh. It took Yoh a few minutes to sit back up after the kiss and hesitantly grab the bottle.

"That was a bit much, Hao." Yoh mumbled. "For the sake of everyone's mental state, please don't do that again."

"Fine, fine. It was amusing though. Now spin the bottle before I get bored again." Hao replied.

Yoh sighed and gave the bottle a light spin. He had to say, he was slightly relieved at who it landed on... Tamao. Tamao instantly blushed and looked down at the floor. He slowly walked over to her and gave her a small kiss on the lips before returning to his seat. Afterward, Tamao fainted and was excluded from the game. Since Tamao was excluded for the next few turns, the bottle was handed to the person next to her and the game continued.

The game finally ended after another three hours. Yoh had gotten lucky in not having to kiss anyone else. Although, he was slightly disappointed, he had wanted to kiss Anna. Anna ended up kissing Ren and Lyserg once and Hao another six times. Each time Hao had tried to deepen the kiss and it was only on the last kiss that he succeeded. Mari was one of the more _and_ less lucky ones, she ended up kissing Hao and Jeanne. Marco fainted after that.

The game was pretty fun though. Anna went back ahead of him and everyone else had more or less gone as well. He decided that when he would get home, he would finally bring the courage to ask Anna to kiss him. He had been wanting to ask her for a while, but always backed out at the last minute. Tonight, he had decided that he was finally going to do it.

XxX

Me: This isn't going to be a long story. 3-5 chapters at max. Story inspired in part by angst and the song Mr Brightside.


	2. Broken Trust

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

XxX

It was fairly late out and Anna still wasn't back yet. Yoh was getting worried, so he decided to go out and look for her. He checked all of the places that she would usually be, and she wasn't there. However, it wasn't that unusual for her to be at the park if she wasn't at any of those other places. The park was usually abandoned at night, it was secluded too, making it the perfect place to relax. The only ones who came by were there to feed the birds.

As Yoh passed by the tall trees, he heard a faint gasping sound. The sound made him a little uneasy, but he went to go check it out none the less. As he came closer to the sound, he saw two silhouettes next to an old maple tree. The silhouettes seemed vaguely familiar. He tried getting nearer to get a better look, and once he did, he couldn't believe what he saw.

Anna had her back against the tree, dress being pulled off and lips locked with Hao. He hoped, _prayed_ that she would slap him any second now and walk away... but it never happened. She even seemed to be enjoying herself. Her hands were tangled in his hair and she smiled as he pushed her down. Hao smirked down at her before resuming their little make out session.

Yoh couldn't stand watching anymore, he turned and ran out of the forest as fast as he could. He didn't stop until he had reached his house and made it past the door. He stopped to catch his breath and glanced around the room. It seemed like Amidamaru was out with the other spirits tonight, otherwise he would have greeted him. Not bothering to think about when the spirit would be back, Yoh headed over to the nearest bathroom.

He locked the bathroom door behind him and walked over to the sink, his thoughts a jumbled mess of confusion, sadness and anger. A sudden rush of images went through his head, reminding him of why he felt like this. He clenched his teeth and looked up at the mirror, eyes flaring with anger. The reflection, which looked so much like him, glaring back at him, was the final straw. Without further warning, he smashed his fist into the surface of the tall bathroom mirror.

Pain surged through his hand as the mirror shattered. Broken shards fell to the floor, resounding with a chorus cracks and an image of shattered glass. Warmth trickled past his fingers in the form of blood, leaving a red trail in it's wake. He probably should have been more worried about the pain, but it just seemed so distant at the moment. His eyes trailed down to his hand to inspect the damage, not because he was concerned, but because of habit.

A few shards of the mirror were lodged into the skin. The blood from the cuts slid down his hand, eventually falling onto the cold tile floor. His eyes softened and he slowly pulled the shards out of his hand, carelessly tossing them to the floor before looking back up at the mirror. The part that remained was covered in cracks, creating a dozen mini reflections. Something about the images were slightly strange... He hesitantly reached up and touched his cheek, surprised to find that it was wet. He... was crying?

"So, it really affected me that much?" Yoh laughed. A cold, dry laugh with none of the usual warmth.

"I don't know why I'm so surprised... I should have figured something like this would happen. But... Why? Why?!" Yoh cried.

Tears ran down his cheeks, as the memories of the day ran through his head. "Yesterday, everything was fine. Why did it have to change? Why..." Yoh's knees gave way and he slunk to the floor, which was now soaked with tears.

XxX

After an hour of crying non-stop, Yoh was finally finished. He was still sad, but he refused to let it show anymore. By the end of his crying, he had decided that he would ask her, but not push too hard. He would act like he didn't know. Because of what he saw, he didn't know if he could trust her again, but he'd try to act like things were fine, they'd still be friends. He'd try to look on the bright side.

Everyone came to him with their problems and it wouldn't be good for him to be too caught up in his own problems to help them. He wanted to help anyone he could, and he would. What happened today would not hold him back. He didn't blame Hao and he didn't blame Anna. In all honesty, he didn't _blame_ anyone, but he was _mad_ at Anna. He had always known about Hao's crush on her, he made it quite obvious after all, but she had decided to do _that_ with him.

If she wanted Hao, she should have at least called off the engagement. If she didn't want him, then what was it? An accident? Was it just a moment of weakness? He highly doubted that. Anna wasn't weak, and when she was, you could tell. He wondered if this was just how she was. He really hoped it wasn't that. He decided that when he asked her later, if she apologized, he would forgive her and act like it never happened... but if she lied, he didn't think he'd be able to trust her again.

XxX

Anna finally came home late the next morning, looking like she had just gone on a small shopping trip. Yoh was in the kitchen making breakfast when she came in.

"You were out late. Where were you?" Yoh asked as he focused on flipping a pancake.

"Oh. I was staying at Ren's place." Anna said.

"Really? I called Jun earlier to ask if she had seen you. I was worried, you know. She said she hadn't seen you since you left." Yoh replied nonchalantly.

"That's because I stayed at Ren's Uncle's place. My mistake. Sorry for making you worry." Anna said calmly.

"Oh. Is he doing well?" Yoh asked casually.

"He's fine." Anna replied.

"I see. Good to hear. Oh, by the way. Have you seen Hao at all? I wanted to ask him something." Yoh asked.

"Hao? Nope. Haven't seen him." Anna said simply.

"Is something wrong Anna? You seem a bit off today." Yoh asked.

"It's nothing, just a mild headache. I think I'm going to go lie down though." Anna replied before quickly heading to her room.

Yoh sighed after she had gone. '_She didn't even seem sorry. Does betraying my trust really mean that little to her?_' Yoh thought sadly. '_Well, now that I know, I won't let it get me down anymore. She chose someone else. I can't change that. So, I'm just going to hope that she'll be happy. She has her life, and I have mine_.'

XxX

Me: Please review.


	3. Want to bet

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

possible ooc

XxX

Yoh sighed as he looked at the park around him. There were a few couples hanging out by the swings, but that was about it. He couldn't help reminiscing about how things used to be with him and Anna as he watched the happy couples before him. Perhaps he was some kind of masochist. Only the great spirit knew how much it hurt to be there, yet he refused to leave. He didn't want to go back and pretend to be fine, he'd much rather torture himself by staying and thinking about the impossible joy that could have been.

He supposed that he could convince his parents to engage him to Tamao, but he didn't want to lead her on like that. He still liked Anna, that would probably never change, and if he did ask to be engaged to Tamao because it would only hurt her in the end. Tamao hadn't done anything to deserve a heartbreak like that. It was better for her to get over him and find someone who truly cared about her. She deserved to be happy.

"Well, you look deep in thought. What are you thinking about?"

Yoh cringed at the familiar tone. Why did _he_ have to show up now of all times? Putting on one of his best fake smiles, Yoh turned to look up at his older brother.

"Nothing much. Just thinking about the tournament." Yoh lied.

"Oh? You look rather distraught." Hao commented.

"Thinking about future fights can get anyone distraught." Yoh said simply.

"I see. Come with me. Perhaps we can talk about your problems somewhere a little more private." Hao said as he took Yoh's hand.

"No thanks. I think I'm doing fine on my own." Yoh replied.

"It wasn't a request." Hao said as he began dragging Yoh into the forest.

Yoh knew from experience that it would do no good trying to get away from his brother when he was like this. It would probably be over a lot quicker if he just followed Hao, made up some crappy story and then let Hao think that he'd help solve the problem. As Yoh was thinking about this and not paying attention to where he was going, he failed to notice the place they were heading towards.

He only realized this when his back was pushed roughly against a tree. When he looked around a bit, he realized exactly where he was. This was the park where he had seen Hao and Anna making out last night. Just the thought made him sick to his stomach. From where he was he could even see the spot he'd been standing. He looked up at Hao, who had his arms crossed and looking back at him with a look of mild irritation.

"Well now, why don't you tell me what's really on your mind?" Hao asked.

"What are you talking about? I'm just worried about the upcoming fights, that's it." Yoh said as he turned to leave.

In the moment he tried to move, Hao grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back against the tree.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about. You're pissed off that I made out with your girlfriend last night." Hao said.

Yoh glared up at him. "You knew?"

"Of course. You underestimate me, Yoh. If I had really wanted to make sure we weren't seen, I would've picked a different place to do it." Hao scoffed.

"You wanted me to see?" Yoh said, not bothering to hide the disgust in his tone.

"Well, yea. Anna's been sleeping around for a while now. If I hadn't done that, you never would have figured it out." Hao said bluntly.

"What?" Yoh gasped.

"You wouldn't have believed me if I'd just told you, so I acted like I was interested in her and waited till the right time to prove it." Hao said simply.

"If that's true, then why did you go through all the trouble? I'm just your 'other half'. Why should it have mattered to you?" Yoh snapped.

"Yoh, you're stupid, huh?" Hao sighed.

"What?!" Yoh exclaimed.

"I don't like her, I like you." Hao replied.

"Like I'd believe that." Yoh said with a glare.

Hao scowled at the response, his eyes narrowing as he returned the gaze with an icy glare of his own. For a moment, Yoh considered taking back the comment. He hadn't forgotten about Hao's strength nor the Spirit of Fire's immense appetite. All it would take was a wave if his brother's hand to turn him to cinders. However, he stubbornly refused back down. His mind wasn't really thinking straight through all the conflicting emotions.

"I'll prove it." Hao said, after a moment of silence.

"How?" Yoh asked.

"...You want me to give up my goal for destroying humans, right? Fine, for this life, I'll do it. I'll withdraw from the tournament to show you I'm serious." Hao replied.

"As if that would happen." Yoh said bitterly.

"Want to bet?" Hao said with a smirk.

"Fine. If it doesn't happen in a week, you'll drop the act and stop messing with me." Yoh said.

"And if I do it within that week, you'll be mine?" Hao inquired.

"Yup. I'll even let you put me in a dress if you want." Yoh said flatly.

"Alright then. See you in a week, Otouto."

Yoh watched with a frown as Hao turned to leave. He didn't like that he'd ended up letting his bitter emotions get the better of him in the conversation. He was supposed to be calm, act like what he saw never happened and get on with his life... So why did he let what Hao said get to him? His twin couldn't actually care about him like that. They were both guys and brothers no less. It was probably just a joke. It _had_ to be a joke. He didn't know if his heart would be able to take being shattered again.

XxX

Me: Please review.


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